The Raven in the Frog Pond: Edgar Allan Poe and the Boston Literati in 1845

A talk in honor of Poe's birth in Boston on January 19, 1809 with Paul Lewis, Professor Emeritus at Boston College

1845 was both the best and worst of years for Edgar Allan Poe. In late January he published his most haunting poem, "The Raven." Widely reprinted, celebrated, and mocked, it boosted Poe's public standing and presence on the lecture circuit. On October 16, Poe spoke at the Boston Lyceum. On the stage of the Odeon Theatre at the intersection of Franklin and Federal Streets, Poe began by insulting the audience. While the ensuing war of words between Poe and the Bostonians was driven by personal animus, it was also based on contrasting views of how literature should affect readers. Poe's standing at the time and his enduring influence on world literature were at stake in this most dramatic moment of his eventful career.

After the talk there will be a celebratory group recitation of "The Raven."

Paul Lewis is a Professor Emeritus at Boston College, a past president of the Poe Studies Association, and the curator of exhibitions on literary Boston. As the BOD chair of the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston, Inc., Lewis worked with others to celebrate Poe in the city of his birth by having a square at the intersection of Boylston Street and Charles Street South dedicated to Poe in 2010 and then installing a statue of Poe in it in 2014. His book–Quothing “The Raven”: The First Responses to America’s Most Famous Poem, Including Twenty-Nine Parodies Published During Poe’s Lifetime–is forthcoming from Mercer University Press in 2026.